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A lawyer isn’t a practicing lawyer without clients — at least that is the case for lawyers in private practice. The purpose of law firms is to advise clients, attempt to solve clients’ legal problems and represent the
clients’ interests.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- May 16, 2015 -- Vol. 86, No. 14

A common complaint among lawyers is the painful necessity of filling out timesheets so that the clients can be accurately billed. On its face, this is a simple exercise that should be a part of the daily routine and should be happily done for the direct rewards it provides. (You don’t bill, you don’t get paid.)

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- April 18, 2015 -- Vol. 86, No. 11

This year’s conference contains critical information gathered for you all in one place. Even if you may not consider your firm a “small firm,” this year’s conference is for you. Because this year we are
featuring a program called “Practice Management Shootout at the OK Bar.”

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- March 14, 2015 -- Vol. 86, No. 8

COMES NOW the writer, and for his February Law Practice Tips column in the Oklahoma Bar Journal alleges and states as follows.

That is lawyer-speak for “Greetings.” I recall during law school when I was working for a law firm, I asked an experienced lawyer why we started all pleadings with “COMES NOW the Defendant” when the pleading already had a title like “Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment.” The response, which will surprise no lawyer, was some version of because that is how it has always been done.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- February 14, 2015 -- Vol. 86, No. 5

This month’s column will cover a wide variety of topics briefly. Hopefully some of you will have a bit of downtime during the next couple of months, so I am passing along some projects for your law firm to incorporate in addition to some other online reading material.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- December 13, 2014 -- Vol. 85, No. 33

“Navigating the Changing Legal Profession” is the theme for this month’s edition of the Oklahoma Bar Journal and the OBA Annual Meeting. That’s a topic in which I have much interest. Every lawyer not actively engaged in finalizing their retirement plans should also pay attention to future trends.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- November 1, 2014 -- Vol. 85, No. 29

Some lawyers and I recently were discussing the problems of family law cases in which the parents are paying for a child’s attorney’s fees. It is a very common situation, given the finances of many young married couples. Parents are usually quite willing to pay for attorney’s fees in family law matters to make sure their children and, often, grandchildren are protected.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- October 4, 2014 -- Vol. 85, No. 26

Everyone (including me) says your law firm has to have a website and almost everyone says that your law firm really needs to also have social media accounts, which are also, at least in part, websites. Most of you understand how that can be true as two of your big gateways for online information are Google searches and Facebook.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- September 13, 2014 -- Vol. 85, No. 23

ABA TECHSHOW 2014 was reported to have had an all-time record number of registered attendees, including at least seven from Oklahoma. There are other legal technology conferences, but ABA TECHSHOW is special.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal -- May 17, 2014 -- Vol. 85, No. 14

Hopefully at some point during the last few months of 2012, the lawyers in your firm had a meeting or a series of meetings to discuss what your plans are for 2013. In larger firms most of the planning may have been done by a management team working with the firm administrator. But at some point, there was likely a meeting with, or communication to, all of the lawyers.